Bangkok Bank + insurance (package deal)

[skyiceice]

Hi,

 

What are the requirements for open a NEW Kasikorn bank account for a TOURIST ?

 

Is the work permit necessary ? ( someone in the forum have open with just the tourist visa  and passport + residence certificate )

 

Thank you

 

 

[lungbing]

I suspect it's nothing to do with Kasikorn bank as a whole, and everything to do with whichever branch of the bank you go to.

[Maestro]

Lungbing is right. At some bank branches, they want to see a work permit, house registration book, Thai ID card or other documents, at others they are happy with just the passport. There is no uniform policy used by all banks and all bank branches in Thailand.

 

If you are specifically asking about Kasikorn bank because you plan to remit money from your bank account outside Thailand to a Kasikorn account in your name, you can ask your foreign bank for a letter of recommendation if you run up against otherwise insurmountable obstacles at your local Kasikorn bank.

[Kadilo]

I opened mine with a tourist visa, my passport and my Thai girlfriend sitting beside me.


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[skyiceice]

1 hour ago, Kadilo said:

I opened mine with a tourist visa, my passport and my Thai girlfriend sitting beside me.


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Where ?

[Maestro]

1 hour ago, Maestro said:

...you can ask your foreign bank for a letter of recommendation if you run up against otherwise insurmountable obstacles at your local Kasikorn bank.

 

 

It is probably even more impressive if your foreign bank transmits the recommendation to the Kasikorn bank via the SWIFT messaging network.

 

Incidentally, make sure you ask to open a savings account, as other wise the bank employee might think that you want a current account, something you definitely cannot get without a work permit.

[Kadilo]

Where ?

Seka in Bueng Kan. Small town. As someone said it varies as I asked in Udon Thani and they said no.


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[Maestro]

3 minutes ago, Kadilo said:

Seka in Bueng Kan. Small town. As someone said it varies as I asked in Udon Thani and they said no.


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For those who, like me, didn't know:

• Bueng Kan is a province in the northeast of Thailand
• Seka is a district in Bueng Kan province

Unknown at the moment is whether Kadilo opened his account at Kasikorn, the bank about which the OP is enquiring.

[4evermaat]

Seka in Bueng Kan. Small town. As someone said it varies as I asked in Udon Thani and they said no.


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How long ago did you open the acct.

[Maestro]

Skyiceice, knowing now that the documents required for opening a bank account may vary from one Kasikorn branch to the other, are you interested in hearing from members about the requirements by any Kasikorn branch in any part of the country?

[Maestro]

Another useful point to consider is that, based on some posts in other topics, some bank branches are averse to opening any type of bank account for nationals of the United States of America, apparently because of FATCA (Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act), a US law.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

I can't speak to Kasikorn specifically. But in general, the unfortunate part here is, Thai law/Bank of Thailand regulations seem to provide very little practical guidance on this point.

 

As a result, the various Thai banks all tend to have different/differing rules on what they'll require to allow foreigners to open bank accounts.

 

Some make it relatively easy, like Bangkok Bank where they have a website that specifically lists what kinds of documents they'll require depending on what kind of entry status/stamp/visa you have. Most don't seem to have any public listing of their requirements. But for example, TMB Bank seems pretty consistent in that they won't open a bank account for a non-Thai without a work permit, period. There's also the aggravation that a lot of bank branches/staffs simply don't know or don't care, and will answer no just to get you out of their hair.

 

In general, in my and others experience, Bangkok Bank and Krungsri (Ayudhya) Bank seem to be generally the most receptive to foreigners opening new accounts. CIMB also can be OK, though when I opened a new account with them recently, they only wanted 4 things: my passport, a 2nd photo ID like a driver's license, a utility bill or something similar to verify my address, and a Thai sponsor such as my Thai wife, who had to give them a copy of her ID card for me to get an account solely in my name.

 

Re Maestro's point above, the only Thai bank company I know of for certain that will NOT open new accounts for Americans because of FATCA is Tisco Bank. And I know this because, when Standard Chartered sold their Thailand retail banking business to Tisco, all the American account holders at SCBT were told they had to close their accounts because Tisco would not be accepting new accounts for American citizens.

 

I can specifically say, in recent years, I've talked to or dealt with the following Thai banks regarding accounts, and never heard anything from the following about being locked out because of FATCA: Bangkok Bank, Siam Commercial, Krungsri, CIMB, TMB and Thanachart, and there may be a few others. But the demanding of work permits and similar is a common thing thrown out at a lot of the banks.

 

 

 

[fletchsmile]

1 hour ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

....

 

Some make it relatively easy, like Bangkok Bank where they have a website that specifically lists what kinds of documents they'll require depending on what kind of entry status/stamp/visa you have. Most don't seem to have any public listing of their requirements. But for example, TMB Bank seems pretty consistent in that they won't open a bank account for a non-Thai without a work permit, period. There's also the aggravation that a lot of bank branches/staffs simply don't know or don't care, and will answer no just to get you out of their hair.

 

......

 

Re Maestro's point above, the only Thai bank company I know of for certain that will NOT open new accounts for Americans because of FATCA is Tisco Bank. And I know this because, when Standard Chartered sold their Thailand retail banking business to Tisco, all the American account holders at SCBT were told they had to close their accounts because Tisco would not be accepting new accounts for American citizens.

 

I can specifically say, in recent years, I've talked to or dealt with the following Thai banks regarding accounts, and never heard anything from the following about being locked out because of FATCA: Bangkok Bank, Siam Commercial, Krungsri, CIMB, TMB and Thanachart, and there may be a few others. But the demanding of work permits and similar is a common thing thrown out at a lot of the banks.

 

 

 

For TMB it could well have been because you were American.

 

I was in Central Rama III branch a few months back and sat next to a French national who had no problems being a customer of TMB. Retired and a customer for only a year give or take, hence she would never have had a work permit.

 

TMBAM I believe don't take Americans as customers. I recall also a few years back TMBAM writing me a letter to say they were going to close my mutual fund account because I was American. TMBAM being the asset management arm of TMB bank. Thankfully I'm not American - so in addition to not having Trump represent my country, my Thai mutual fund account remained open. Double win

 

In recent years Stan Chart by the way wouldn't accept Americans as new clients for mutual fund investment accounts, but would for normal bank accounts. Tisco as you say have extended that to not accepting Americans full stop.

 

Edit: Just sent a Line message to a TMB branch manager as I couldn't remember the general policy for certain. She said Americans can open bank accounts at TMB but only at Head Office. That would likely explain why you've struggled to open one. 

 

There's often exceptions though LOL

 

Edited September 12, 2017 by fletchsmile

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

41 minutes ago, fletchsmile said:

TMBAM I believe don't take Americans as customers. I recall also a few years back TMBAM writing me a letter to say they were going to close my mutual fund account because I was American. TMBAM being the asset management arm of TMB bank. Thankfully I'm not American - so in addition to not having Trump represent my country, my Thai mutual fund account remained open. Double win

 

In recent years Stan Chart by the way wouldn't accept Americans as new clients for mutual fund investment accounts, but would for normal bank accounts. Tisco as you say have extended that to not accepting Americans full stop.

 

Edit: Just sent a Line message to a TMB branch manager as I couldn't remember the general policy for certain. She said Americans can open bank accounts at TMB but only at Head Office. That would likely explain why you've struggled to open one. 

 

Quote

 

Fletch, the mutual funds prohibition is an entirely different one than the regular banking issues.

 

Re Tisco, I don't know if they changed their stance toward Americans or simply continued what they've had all along. I've never heard from any American, or expat in general, who wanted to have a Tisco account before the Standard Chartered buyout came along.

 

Re TMB, I've talked to regular TMB branches (not the head office) in the past with them knowing I was an American. And they were fine to open an account for me, providing I could show them a work permit.

 

I had a conversation with their staff at their Siam Paragon branch just within the past month exactly along those lines.

 

But your account above re the French national does highlight another familiar theme on this subject: And that is, whatever the supposed policy of any particular Thai banking company is on these issues, the way their staff follow or don't follow it can vary widely from branch to branch. Which only adds to the confusion and exasperation people experience.

 

I wanna say, there are currently at least 3-4 different threads running here in the past few days with different people complaining about varying difficulties in trying to open Thai banks accounts. And amazingly, not one of them was started/opened by me.

 

 

Edited September 12, 2017 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[Kadilo]

 

For those who, like me, didn't know:

• Bueng Kan is a province in the northeast of Thailand
• Seka is a district in Bueng Kan province

Unknown at the moment is whether Kadilo opened his account at Kasikorn, the bank about which the OP is enquiring.

Yes I did. Apologies for not being more specific.

 

 

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[Kadilo]

How long ago did you open the acct.

About 6 months ago.


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[Anythingleft?]

Another post on this subject to add to the rest. There will be no one definitive answer that can possibly be given, the OP will have to trawl the banks and see what replies they give him
Everybody will reply with their own experiences and get called out by everybody else. OP go to the banks and ask them....you may get lucky or you may have to do a lot of walking..

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